Volunteers and The Warren Centre

We welcome all those who seek to foster excellence and innovation in advanced engineering throughout Australia by volunteering to participate in The Warren Centre’s projects.

The Warren Centre includes volunteers drawn from all engineering industry sectors, together with a small management team. Our interests range across all fields associated with, or touched by, engineering, including: ICT; energy; water; construction; infrastructure; manufacturing; innovation; and the education system (primary, secondary and tertiary) that will provide our technicians, managers and leaders into the future.

Our board is made up of senior engineering experts who lead many of Australia’s technology intensive organisations. We are continually looking for opportunities to increase the wealth of all Australians through the application of advanced engineering. We do this through a unique process of:

identifying an opportunity for improved performance through a sector-based committee system

collaborating with key stakeholders in the project’s field to establish a draft project and taking it to our board for approval in principle

stakeholders with a clear self-interest in the project produce a detailed Project Proposal with clear outcomes, timelines and budget.

Projects are expected to be self contained, fully funded (by stakeholders) and require formal approval from the Board. It is important to note:

The Centre does not seek to own any outcomes. Our criterion for success is when the stakeholders in a project, either by themselves or in collaboration with others, successfully apply the outcomes.

It is the engagement of the stakeholders in the project itself that delivers change.

The volunteer model delivers financial leverage for all stakeholders.

For example, the Sustainable Transport in Sustainable Cities project, which has been influential in the development of many Government recommendations and policies for the future of Sydney, involved 200 people over three and half years, and cost the stakeholders, (in cash terms) around $1 million plus perhaps $3 million of volunteer time. The estimated cost for such a comprehensive study at market value is $14 million.

The Warren Centre creates positive change, as outlined in Pushing the Engineering Envelope (PDF, 2.98 MB). Our comprehensive list of previous projects in the Envelope demonstrates practical changes that are a direct result of the Centre’s work.

The Warren Centre

The Warren Centre is an independent body. It uses robust, collaborative processes together with its extensive networks in academia, industry and government to find solutions and answer questions in an increasing complex economic, technical and social environment.